Listen to the sermon here
Choose a good reputation over great
riches; being
held in high esteem is better than silver or gold.
Like a needle pulling thread, there is one overarching
thought/word which runs through all Scripture concerning wealth and power – it
is the undeniable connection between justice and wealth…in short – how the
wealthy of the world treat the poor of the world; and vice-versa. Dishonoring
others isn’t just rich snobbery; it can happen from either side,
whether you’re poor or rich – you can be a poor or rich snob!
The Proverb writer stated the obvious (to people of
faith), that God made both the rich and poor people, and to dishonor either is
to go contrary to God’s intention and will.
James takes the case a bit farther, giving us his
practical eye on relationships between those on either end of the economic
spectrum, and especially the high standard of impartiality the church must set
in being as impartial as God when it comes to the way we treat
others.
Impartiality
Impartiality becomes the buzz word for this whole subject; God’s people
are to be as impartial as God. A
person’s economic standing (high or low) is not to interfere with how that person sees others, or
is seen by others.
James uses the word favoring when it
comes to seating the rich and poor at the church dinner-on-the-grounds. It means to lift the face. The picture here is someone reaching out an
up-turned hand to lift up your chin, perhaps to get a better view of your
features – to get some more light on the subject, so they can decide if you’re
acceptable enough to sit in a prominent place.
How is that person judging? Superficially! He is judging by what he sees, and that is
the whole point;
·
What
you can
see is a wrinkled old face, or a smooth new one.
·
What
you can
see is designer jeans or work-stained overalls.
·
What
you can
see is a palace or a shanty.
·
What
you can
see is a Lexus or a lemon.
What you can’t see is the inside of another person.
And that is all that God chooses
to see when it comes to judging that person. In picking-out the first king of Israel, God
warned the prophet Samuel not to look for some regal appearance:
People judge by outward
appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7(NLT)
With this clear-cut line between superficial judging and
simply judging character, we can better understand God’s anger over partiality
– particularly on the part of those who claim to know and serve Him.
One source[2] I
read gave these reasons why showing favoritism is wrong:
Why is it
wrong to show favoritism to the wealthy?
·
It is inconsistent with Christ’s
teachings.
·
It results from evil thoughts.
·
It insults people made in God’s image.
·
It is a by-product of selfish motives.
·
It goes against the biblical definition
of love.
·
It shows a lack of mercy to those less
fortunate.
·
It is hypocritical.
·
It is sin.
The Reason Churches Die
Favoritism (a lack of impartiality) is one of the
reasons churches die…and ought to!
A lack of impartiality exists when we refuse to bend
the knee to the Spirit and rather choose to bow at the altar of culture.
What I mean by that is when we judge another by their
outward signs, we miss the inward bearing witness of the Holy Spirit. If we fail to see the Christ in someone else,
simply because we’re too busy eyeballing the outside of that person, we can
begin to set ourselves in a way that will harden us to what God wants to do
with us.
A church I served more than 25 years ago was once a
large church with more than 500 attending every week. That was in the post WW2 baby boom era. The church was located in the suburbs of
Jacksonville, Florida, an area of white, upper middle-class, relatively
affluent, white collar and middle management families.
Somewhere in the 1960’s the neighborhood began to
shift. The city was home to a port, and
international influence started creeping into the neighborhood.
By the time I arrived at that church the neighborhood
had gone from church-going Anglo who manicured their lawns to multicultural and
more poverty than anyone wanted to admit.
The drug culture moved in; gangs became prevalent and English became the
second language.
The result of “favoritism” in that church came to be
the commonly accepted understanding among the residents/members that there was
an us
and there was a them.
One of my colleagues wrote about this
concept:
It’s hard to share the Good News of Jesus Christ when the
neighborhood has changed and the church hasn’t.[3]
And here’s the reason why, for that church, death was
on the horizon: The them in the
community became those poor people who needed our money and help.
Now, to a degree that sounds Biblical – mission
dollars at work! But it was really favoritism
in reverse; these were people to be served – not fellow image of God-stamped on their
souls persons with whom we could worship and work and care for our
neighborhood.
Those people weren’t the future of the church with
whom we would celebrate the Kingdom and goodness of Christ together – they were
them
– not to be confused with us! With every self-righteous effort to minister
to those
poor people, we insulted the Christ who died for us all.
Scripture says we are to be imitators
of Christ:
I have given you an
example to follow. Do as I have done to you.
John 13:15(NLT)
Suppose
Jesus had decided on an “us” and “them” mentality.
Would he have left heaven and his divinity behind to become
one of us? Instead of a
cross and forgiveness and a home forever with Christ, he might have sent us
enough money to enroll in a self-help book club, majoring on how to live your
best life now.
But Jesus opted for incarnation - taking on human flesh; he was
tempted like we are, experienced all we experience – and he lived among
us. There was no us and him;
it was God with us!
This is why in the United Methodist Church we say ministry WITH
the poor, not ministry TO the poor. It takes the favoritism out of the equation,
and puts us all together.
So, to help us think a little more about just what may
sometimes sneak up on us and cause us to lose our impartiality,
consider a few questions that might keep you awake tonight…
·
Does
this church look like this neighborhood?
·
Who
would we favor walking through that front door?
·
Would
poor people feel comfortable here? Would
rich people?
·
What
can we do to remove any last vestige of favoritism from our daily living, so we
can imitate the impartial God who treats everyone the same?
You wrestle with the answers for a while, and see if
God shows up.
In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit![4]
[2]
Life Application Bible
Commentary: James, © 1997 by The Livingstone
Corporation. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Wheaton, Illinois.
[3]
Dr. Dawn Chesser, DiscipleshipMinistries.org
[4]
Life Application Bible
Commentary: James, © 1997 by The Livingstone
Corporation. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Wheaton, Illinois.
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